Sezzle Q3 2026: revenue up 42.6%, full-year growth guide raised to about 42.5%

Sezzle lets shoppers split purchases into installments (its “pay later” product, plus long-term installment loans originated through partners) and earns most of its money from consumers rather than merchants: consumer-derived income, mainly subscriptions to Sezzle Premium and Sezzle Anywhere plus consumer fees such as rescheduling, late and On-Demand fees, made up about three-quarters of Q3 revenue (our arithmetic, from the 10-Q’s consumer-derived income lines). It funds the receivables partly with a $300 million credit facility, so credit losses sit in its operating expenses and funding costs show up as net interest just below operating income.

The Q2 2026 post did the arithmetic on Sezzle’s August target: 35% growth for the year implied roughly 31% in the second half, well below the 51.7% of Q2. The third quarter tests that, and it also changes how volume is measured, so the per-dollar ratios Sezzle highlights need a short note before they are compared.

Sezzle Q3 2026 results at a glance

$ millions, except per share and %	Q3 2026	Q2 2026	Q3 2025
Total revenue	166.5	149.7	116.8
Total operating expenses	102.3	94.7	81.2
Operating income	64.3	55.0	35.6
Operating margin	38.6%	36.7%	30.4%
Net income	47.8	40.8	26.7
Diluted EPS	$1.38	$1.17	$0.75
Adjusted EBITDA	70.2	58.0	39.6
Active subscribers (thousands)	955	854	—

Volume is the measurement change. From Q3 Sezzle reports total transaction volume (TTV), which adds SezzleCash cash advances and Sezzle Send peer-to-peer payments to the old gross merchandise volume (GMV), and it has recast prior periods for that wider scope and for adjustments to how purchase volume is measured. Q3 TTV was $1.4 billion, up 34.9%. The release’s year-over-year ratios use the recast base, so they are like for like; the Q2 release’s ratios were “of GMV” and are not reused here. Sezzle also restated its adjusted net income history to include the tax effect of its adjustments, so the Q2 adjusted figures are not repeated in the table.

Did Sezzle issue guidance for Q3 2026?

No. The release, like the prior ones, gives full-year targets only. In its August 6 release it set 2026 revenue growth at 35%. On 2025 revenue of $450.3 million, that implied about $607.9 million for the year and about $322.7 million for the second half, roughly 31% above the second half of 2025 (our arithmetic). Q3 alone grew 42.6% and rose about 11% from Q2 (our arithmetic).

The new target is about 42.5%. The release’s guidance table shows the revenue target set at 25–30% in February and raised to 30–35% in May, 35% in August and now about 42.5%. The CEO calls this raising FY2026 guidance for the fourth time; the adjusted EPS target, first given in November 2025 at $4.35, has been raised four times. The release notes that earlier adjusted net income and EPS guidance was not recast for the tax effect of the adjustments, so those raises are not strictly comparable with the new figures. At 42.5%, 2026 revenue would be about $641.6 million, which leaves about $189.9 million for Q4, roughly 46% above Q4 2025 (our arithmetic: Q4 2025 revenue of about $129.9 million is the 2025 total less the nine months to September). The guide therefore assumes Q4 growth at least as fast as Q3’s.

Costs per dollar of volume fell

Operating expenses rose 25.9%, much slower than revenue. The release’s ratios show where the margin came from: transaction-related costs fell to 35.3% of revenue from 45.8%, while other operating expenses rose to 27.8% from 27.1%. (Transaction-related costs, as Sezzle defines them, include net interest expense, which sits below operating income, so the two ratios do not add up to the operating-expense ratio.) Per dollar of volume:

Share of TTV	Q3 2026	Q3 2025
Provision for credit losses	2.7%	3.1%
Transaction expense	1.3%	1.7%
Net interest expense	0.2%	0.4%
Transaction-related costs	4.2%	5.2%
Total revenue	11.9%	11.3%

Transaction-related costs rose only 9.8% in dollars to $58.8 million, so revenue less those costs rose 70.3% to $107.7 million, or 64.7% of revenue. Two caveats come from the filings. Transaction expense includes a $3.7 million payment network incentive earned in the quarter, per the release and the 10-Q, so part of that ratio’s improvement came from the incentive. And the credit provision is seasonal; Sezzle’s own full-year target is now about 2.5% of TTV, narrowed from 2.5–3.0%. The allowance for credit losses was $39.6 million against $355.5 million of notes receivable, about 11.1% against about 10.1% at the end of 2025 (our arithmetic).

Spending moved the other way. Non-transaction operating expenses rose 46.2% to $46.2 million. Marketing was $15.9 million, down from $19.4 million in Q2 but up from $8.8 million a year earlier. Third-party technology and data costs rose to $6.5 million from $3.7 million. The release also lists $2.4 million of corporate strategic project costs for the antitrust suit and the national bank charter application.

Subscriptions drove the revenue mix

The 10-Q splits revenue in two. Revenue from contracts with customers, which holds subscription fees and most merchant and partner income, rose 61.7% to $93.0 million; lending-based income, mainly consumer and merchant fees on installment plans, rose 24.0% to $73.5 million. The 10-Q attributes about $17.1 million of the subscription-side increase to more consumers subscribing to Premium and Anywhere. Active subscribers reached 955,000, up from 854,000 at the end of Q2, and the release puts average quarterly transaction frequency at a company high of 7.8 times, against 6.5 a year earlier.

The newer products are early. SezzleCash completed its first full quarter after a June launch; the release says more than 15% of eligible new Anywhere subscribers made their first transaction through it. Sezzle Send rolled out to all users in October, and a retention arrangement lets WebBank originate and hold eligible SezzleCash and Sezzle Send loans off Sezzle’s balance sheet, with Sezzle servicing them.

Net income, cash and the bank charter

Net income rose 79.3% to $47.8 million, a 28.7% net margin, slower than operating income because the effective tax rate rose to about 22% from about 16% (our arithmetic: income tax over pre-tax income). Diluted EPS rose 84.0% to $1.38, helped by a lower diluted share count of 34.8 million against 35.7 million. Adjusted net income was $47.7 million, or $1.37 per share.

For the nine months, operating cash flow was $227.9 million, up from $139.3 million (the 2025 figure is as restated), and Sezzle spent $39.4 million on buybacks. Cash and cash equivalents were $70.1 million at September 30, plus $37.7 million restricted, and $104.0 million was drawn on the $300.0 million credit facility. On the balance sheet the line of credit, net of issuance costs, was $102.2 million, against $140.0 million at the end of 2025. In October Sezzle applied to the OCC to establish Sezzle Bank, N.A., with a matching FDIC application, and soft-launched Sezzle Anywhere in Canada.

What to watch in Q4

• Q4 growth against the implied ~46%. The raised guide needs Q4 revenue of about $190 million (our arithmetic).
• The credit provision in the holiday quarter. Sezzle’s full-year target is about 2.5% of TTV; Q3 ran at 2.7%.
• Marketing against subscriber growth. Marketing fell from Q2 while subscribers still added about 101,000 in the quarter (our arithmetic). Marketing spend against subscriber additions is the ratio to follow.
• 2027 guidance. The preliminary $7.20 adjusted EPS is about 31–32% above the 2026 range, as the release states; it is an adjusted figure and excludes strategic project costs.
• The bank charter and the antitrust suit. Both show up as strategic project costs until they resolve.

Quick answers

What was Sezzle’s revenue in Q3 2026?

Total revenue was $166.5 million, up 42.6% from $116.8 million a year earlier, on total transaction volume of $1.4 billion, up 34.9%. Net income was $47.8 million, or $1.38 per diluted share.

What is Sezzle’s 2026 guidance?

Total revenue growth of about 42.5%, up from 35% in August, adjusted net income of $190.0 million and adjusted net income per diluted share of $5.45–5.50. Preliminary 2027 guidance is $7.20 of adjusted net income per diluted share.

How many subscribers does Sezzle have?

955,000 active subscribers to Sezzle Premium or Sezzle Anywhere at September 30, 2026, up 68.1% from a year earlier and up from 854,000 at June 30.

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Sources and method. The income statement, balance sheet, nine-month cash flow, non-GAAP reconciliations, TTV, subscriber count, cost ratios, the guidance history and the preliminary 2027 guidance are Sezzle’s own disclosures in Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K filed 2026-11-04 (accession 0001662991-26-000169) for the quarter ended 2026-09-30, read directly from SEC EDGAR and linked above. The filing was accepted at 16:04 ET on 2026-11-04 (EDGAR filing index), after the US market closed; Sezzle’s Oct. 8 8-K had scheduled the release for that day with a 5:00 p.m. ET call. Revenue by type and its drivers, the payment network incentive, the allowance and the credit facility come from the Form 10-Q filed 2026-11-05 (accession 0001662991-26-000171). Q2 comparatives and the August guidance come from the second-quarter release (accession 0001662991-26-000124), and 2025 revenue from the 2025 Form 10-K (accession 0001662991-26-000016).

No consensus estimate is included, so this piece makes no claim that the quarter beat or missed expectations; the only comparisons are with Sezzle’s own guidance and with prior periods. This piece makes no claim about the share-price reaction.

Our arithmetic, labelled as such: the full-year and second-half revenue implied by the August 35% guide ($450.3 million × 1.35 ≈ $607.9 million; less first-half revenue of $285.2 million ≈ $322.7 million, about 31% above second-half 2025 revenue of $246.7 million); revenue growth of about 11% from Q2; 2026 revenue of about $641.6 million at 42.5% growth, about $189.9 million for Q4 and about 46% Q4 growth on Q4 2025 revenue of about $129.9 million ($450.3 million less $320.4 million); the consumer-derived share of revenue (about 75%: $62.1 million + $62.6 million of $166.5 million); the allowance at about 11.1% and 10.1% of notes receivable; effective tax rates of about 22% and 16%; and the roughly 101,000 subscribers added in Q3. These are approximations built on the disclosed figures, not reported numbers. The growth rates, margins, ratios to TTV and the 30.9–32.1% growth for the 2027 guide are as printed in the release or 10-Q. The interpretation — that the August guide understated the second half and that lower credit and payment costs per dollar of volume, more than revenue growth itself, explain most of the operating margin gain — is our analysis, not a company statement, and is not a forecast.

Related: Sezzle Q2 2026, the prior quarter.